Procedures for quality control in Doppler ultrasound equipment

Different international recommendations suggest an application of quality control programs in ultrasound equipment. However, procedures and reference values for Doppler test are not yet well defined. This work aims to present quantitative and qualitative tests for evaluation of quality control at Doppler ultrasound equipment. The following tests were performed: Doppler Signal Sensitivity; Color Flow Sensitivity; Flow Sensitivity at Depth; Color Flow B-Mode Image Congruency; Directional Discrimination; Accuracy of Flow Velocity Readout and Accuracy of Sample Gate Positioning. The values found will be used as baseline for comparisons over time. (author)